Category Archives: B

The RAF

02 Friday Jan 2026

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Saturday 20th September 2025 ko 14:00

Witney & District League Premier Division

RAF BRIZE NORTON 1 (Castle 41)

Henderson sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Fletcher sent off 90 (violent conduct)

CHARLBURY TOWN 2 (McCallum 32 Eley 87)

Hornblow sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Att 15 at Belfast Square, RAF Brize Norton

Free Entry

I must admit, I do like a military game, and particular one actually behind the security barrier at a base. That fact indirectly led to two games behind security on GroundhopUK events, at RAF Benson and DA Watchfield. I’ve also seen games at MOD Lyneham and at RAF Brize Norton under my own steam so you may wonder why I wanted to head back to the base at Brize?

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Family

24 Wednesday Dec 2025

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Saturday 13th September 2025 ko 17:30

Carmarthenshire League-Premier Division

BURRY PORT 0

Brown sent off 72 (handling outside of box)

KIDWELLY TOWN 2 (Boucher 86 Bessent 90+1)

Att 203

Entry & Programme £3

The final game of the day saw the West Wales Hop do something I didn’t think we’d ever do, and that is head back to the Carmarthenshire League. We’d used the league are a replacement for the the hugely successful Ceredigion Hops, but our time with them was nowhere near as succcessful, not least because we had real issues getting clubs to be away teams. It all culminated in the 2018 Hop that contained Swansea City’s youth team, the Bridgend Sunday League and a trip to Butetown in Cardiff but absolutely no games in Carmarthenshire.

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Neighbours

24 Monday Nov 2025

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Sunday 24th August 2025 ko 17:00

West Lancashire League Premier Division

BURSCOUGH RICHMOND 2 (Carberry 79 Avis 90)

LOSTOCK ST GERARDS 1 (Sarda 34)

Att 407

Sunday’s final hop game saw us in Burscough’s environs- and for those not in the know the town is pronounced Burrs-Coe. The oddity of the piece was that there was and is a connection between Burscough and GroundhopUK- and its to be found in Anglesey!

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The Prayer

27 Friday Jun 2025

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Saturday 19th April 2025 ko 14:30

South West Peninsula League Premier West

BODMIN TOWN 0

DOBWALLS 3 (Larrieu 12secs Tate 41 Kenyon 48)

Att 316

Advance Ticket for all games on the hop £55

Entry £6

Programme £2

I arrived at Priory Park, to a queue of groundhoppers trying to make sense of the Pay & Display machine. Gone are the days when you simply insert a combination of coins you never seem to have, now you phone an automated number that doesn’t seem to understand English, or manipulate an App you don’t have, and there’s not enough 5G to download it. Here by coincidence my one parking App was the one in use here…. the adage of the chimp and the typewriter comes to mind.

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Our Friends in the East

14 Wednesday May 2025

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Saturday 22nd March 2025 ko 12:00

Essex Senior League

BENFLEET 4 (Purdy 28 Saunders 34 Shave 37 Hartman 89)

FC CLACTON 2 (Miller 4 Bright 40)

Att 702

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £7

Programme sold out

Event brochure £1

After two organised hops in March on one level the last thing I wanted was another. But then there’s always something to learn from other folks’ events, and I was the only part of the GroundhopUK team available! There was also more to it than just a set of staggered kick-offs too, with it being the league’s “Non League Day” attraction, and a fundraiser for the “Prostate Cancer UK” charity too. But what really interested me was the advance ticketing…

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Creamery

30 Wednesday Apr 2025

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Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 16:30

East of Scotland League- Second Division

BATHGATE THISTLE 0

EASTHOUSES LILY MWFC 3 (Leslie 44 Dyer 53 Elliott 72)

Att 307

Entry £7

Programme £2

Sat on the coach heading from West Calder to Bathgate I checked social media and was a little surprised. I knew we’d lose a few hoppers for the middle two games, despite our normal attempts to minimise this form of drift. I spotted a few (and I do mean a few) hoppers had opted to miss West Calder and Bathgate in favour of one SPFL game. I allowed myself a raised eyebrow but no more.

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Shooting Practice

05 Wednesday Feb 2025

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Monday 27th January 2025 ko 19:30

Army FA Woolwich Cup Quarter-Final

ADJUTANT GENERALS CORPS 2 (Lucas 28 102)

Penhallurick sent off 65 (DOGSO)

ROYAL ARTILLERY 4 (Polius 45 Lewis 100 Hewart 110p French 120)

Att 26 at Ward Barracks 3G, Horne Road, Bulford Camp

Free Entry

Sometimes it’s not so much the where, it’s the what. The Army FA is affiliated to the FA in much the same way as any County FA is, but let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to see a team called the Royal Artillery play? I’m sure you’re well ahead of me with the shooting one-liners!

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The BSA

18 Saturday Jan 2025

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Saturday 21st December 2024 ko 14:00

Oxfordshire Senior League, Premier Division

BICESTER TOWN COLTS 1 (Patrick 39)

THAME UNITED RESERVES 4 (Johnston 3 64 Bonwick 46 Carr 55)

Att 4 at Bicester Sports Association, Akeman Street, Chesterton

If finding a far flung game on the Friday I finish work is part of my pre-Christmas routine, then finding one closer to home on the Saturday is too. The rationale is easy, I’m part of a pub quiz team, we organise a Christmas meal out each year and since one of us requires it, we eat early.

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Foresters

26 Thursday Sep 2024

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Saturday 24th August 2024 ko 15:00

Gloucestershire County League

BROADWELL AMATEURS 1 (Locke 90+4p)

BROMLEY HEATH UNITED 0

Att 65

Entry & Programme £2.50

Being married to a Bristol girl you’d have thought I’d have finished the Gloucestershire County League years ago, and if they’d hadn’t turned down an approach from GroundhopUK around 20 years ago I’d have completed it well before Robyn and I had ever met. Perhaps it’s a sign of the strength of the league that they’re managed to remove the reserve sides (who kyboshed the groundhop plan) and keep up the refreshing of its membership over the years.

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Crawdaddy

18 Wednesday Sep 2024

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Saturday 10th August 2024

Ko 12:30 Championship

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Harris 28 Brannagan 58)

NORWICH CITY 0

Att 11,333 (1,476 away)

Entry (seat in South Stand Upper Premium) £35

Programme £4

17:30 League 1

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (Bilongo 90+1)

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0

Att 8,529 (586 away)

Entry (Home covered terrace) £20

Monthly magazine £5.99

As the coach left Wembley after Oxford United’s play-off final win, I took a deep breath. It was less a feeling of celebration, that was yet to come back at the pub, more a feeling of “Now what?” I hadn’t expected promotion, but when it happened I began to look at the consequences.

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